Crowd turns out against drug rehab center for 2nd day of ZBA hearing

ST. CHARLES – A continued hearing on a proposed drug and alcohol treatment center near Campton Hills drew another crowd of about 100 people to the branch court in St. Charles.

The Kane County Zoning Board of Appeals continued the hearing after nearly four hours of testimony Monday, and an additional three hours Tuesday – without finishing.

ZBA Chairman Joseph White said the hearing will continue at 7 p.m. Jan. 19 at the same location.

Maxxam Partners LLC is seeking a special use to convert the former Glenwood School for Boys, at 41W400 Silver Glen Road, into a 120-bed private pay, luxury treatment center.

Among members of the public who testified against the facility was Patricia Hartmann of Plato Center, whose farm fields are about a mile from the proposed treatment center.

“I’m speaking for a lot of the farmers, a lot of the neighbors in the area,” Hartmann said. “In my opinion, a rehab drug center … is not good for our area, and neither is it good for them. I feel a center of this type should be located near a hospital.”

Hartmann said the site would be better suited to what the Glenwood School was, possibly a boarding school or academy, or as a college field study campus, a retirement facility, retreat center, or business or environmental center for studies.

“I don’t wish to be known as the home of the second largest drug rehab center in the state,” Hartmann said. “I vote against Maxxam coming in and developing a drug rehab [facility]. I state my disagreement, and I hope you vote against it.”

In other testimony, Deric Wahlgren, a security consultant with Alarm Detection Systems Inc. in Aurora, said his company’s security proposal included a license plate video of all vehicles coming in and out, monitoring of all building exteriors with key fob controlled access and thermal imaging in a virtual fence that can detect movement.

Wahlgren said with this technology, it takes seconds for police to be notified if necessary.